Posted by Janaki on
December 31, 2008
WRC Wednesday News: “Solberg for Sale” Edition!
Will Dance For Drive. Photo courtesy of pettersolberg.com.
For anyone wondering what would become of Petter Solberg following Subaru’s shock withdrawal from WRC, his future is still uncertain. However, there’s a bit of good news in all this: Solberg is now officially a free agent. So if you’re a rich kid who’s thinking of starting your own WRC team, now’s your chance!
So where does this leave his ex-teammate, Chris “Suicide Blonde” Atkinson? Follow the jump to read this and more WRC news.
Posted by Janaki on
December 29, 2008
2009 BMW 7 Series: Now with xTreme xDrive!
You can't see it, but that's AWD hiding under this 7-series' skirts. Photo courtesy of Autoblog.
Automotive News Europe has reported that BMW will be releasing an AWD option on its 7 series in late 2009. According to initial reports, it will initially only be available on the 750i, will have a 30:70 rear bias, and will of course be marketed under the xDrive badge. No word yet on what this option will cost in North America, nor is there an exact release date.
Exciting, yes? Even with the unprecedented warmth that’s been melting all our lovely snow, surely there’s no way the introduction of another decent AWD option on the market could be seen as a bad thing, is there?
No, of course not. Unless they’re jerking us around. And by “jerking us around,” I mean no clever euphemism. I mean exactly that. Follow the jump to read more.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Janaki on
December 26, 2008
F1 Friday News: “Think of the Poor, Starving Drivers!” Edition
In a shock announcement a few days earlier, very-nearly-World-Champion Ferrari driver Felipe Massa roundly rejected the idea of reduced driver salaries in F1, which was earlier suggested as a possible cost-cutting measure by Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali. He quite reasonably cited the fact that driver salaries are but a small part of the much larger stew that coagulates into each team’s budget, and also added that “the more people work to reduce costs, the better it is going to be for everybody.”
He’s got a point, you know. Everyone operates under the misapprehension that F1 drivers are so compactly-built and weigh so little because they’re among some of the world’s fittest men, and also because of weight considerations and the desire to modulate ballast in the overall design scheme of F1 cars. While the latter part of that statement is most certainly true, what’s really at work here is a shocking plan to starve the entire F1 drivers’ stable into supermodeldom. Good on Felipe for having the courage to speak out.
For more F1 news, including Max Mosley’s newest idea of a good time, follow the jump.
Posted by Janaki on
December 19, 2008
F1 Friday News: “Lick a Ham, It Tastes Like…Ham!” Edition
Mark your calendars: on January 15th, 2009, the Isle of Man is releasing sets of commemorative Lewis Hamilton postage stamps, honouring F1’s youngest-ever (well, until Sebastian Vettel takes it in 2009) world champion. No word yet on whether or not the adhesive tastes like a magnum of Mumm, but here’s hoping.
In other F1 news of a possibly porcine nature, Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team principal Ron Dennis paid a visit to team sponsors ExxonMobil in Fairfax, Virginia earlier in the week. Why is this important? Because, fair CarEnvy readers, the entire time they were there, Ron and Lewis could only think of Canada.
To read more about how Tony George’s sparklingly come-hither press pagoda can’t even turn McLaren’s head anymore, follow the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Peter on
December 18, 2008
Stirling Moss Returns From Beyond The Grave (2009 McLaren SLR Stirling Moss)
Well, at least his name has returned from beyond the grave. Stirling Moss, for those unfamiliar with motorsports history, won the 1955 Mille Miglia in a Mercedes 300SLR with the numbers 722 on it (indicating the start time of 7:22 am). Very famous. Now, Car and Driver, among others, are reporting that Mercedes has bestowed his great name on their final edition of the McLaren SLR.
Just look at the picture on the right. It is a staggeringly purposeful automobile. Maybe not the best for Canadian winters, but I haven’t seen something this evocative since Mazda released the Furai. This is probably the best interpretation of retro-futurism I’ve ever seen. The probably fake rivets on the front quarter-panels and the side exhausts nicely offset the modern interior and futuristic rear end. I guess someone at Mercedes has a heartbeat after all.
Now that you’re prepped, check out the rest of the pics, the staggering price tag, and the qualifications you’ll need below.
Posted by Janaki on
December 18, 2008
It’s The End Of The World (Rally Championship) As We Know It
After only a single season slogging through the mud with the big boys, Suzuki have announced plans this week to scrap any plans at competing in the 2009 World Rally Championship. Which is most certainly a shame, but not in itself the reason for this choice of headline.
If you’d like to know whether we’re joking or not about this headline, follow the jump.
Posted by Peter on
December 18, 2008
CarEnvy COTY Awards 2008
It’s December – actually the first December for CarEnvy, and that gives us a unique opportunity: we can be more detached and objective than any other site or magazine because we haven’t driven any of the contenders here. While you might think it odd that we’re giving awards to cars we haven’t driven, you probably haven’t driven them either, and following the industry is beyond an obsession for us so we do have a good idea of what’s good, what’s bad, and what we want. We here at CarEnvy don’t have the luxury of manufacturer invites to press days, but that hasn’t stopped us yet. When the day comes for us to attend such press events, we’ll give you the perspective of the youngest, most Canadian, and most honest individuals around. Until we’re in the shoes of Jeremy, James, and Richard, you’re going to have to make do with our opinions as armchair analysts. Besides, you don’t have to drive a car to want it more than anything.
CarEnvy is about just that, lusting after gorgeous sheetmetal and intoxicating engine sounds. So we’ve decided to find you the most desirable and important cars to hit the streets in 2008 – the Cars Of The Year (COTY). This is not from the perspective of which car is the best to drive or which one handles the best, because we have little first-hand experience. This is a list of winners (and contenders) from eight separate categories based on which one we want the most. Beers were consumed and hours were spent discussing which car would make us the envy of our neighbours and which would have us nursing a semi just by sitting in the drivers seat.
The criteria are simple. The winning car in each category must
- Be desirable
- Be very desirable
- Be more desirable than its competitors without regard for practicality or price (unless needed to break a tie)
- Be sold in Canada in 2008 (but not if #1 and #2 are overwhelming)
- Be cars. We aren’t called TruckEnvy or SUVEnvy.
Madames et Monsieurs, put your hands together for the inaugural CarEnvy COTY Awards.
Posted by Janaki on
December 17, 2008
Detroit 2009: The Legacy Stands Alone?
Meet the sole teaser photo of the 2010 Subaru Legacy concept that the company have announced will be on proud display at the Detroit Auto Show in January. With the ongoing gutting of the global auto industry seeing even constant profitmakers like Honda posting their first loss in 11 years, it’s simultaneously difficult and yet insanely easy to begin contemplating what the future will look like.
If you’re wondering what the cherry-blossom red I’m going on about, follow the jump.
Posted by Peter on
December 16, 2008
Can You Find The Viking Longboats In This Picture? (2010 Volvo S60)
No, I’m not kidding. Volvo designer Steve Mattin says that there are actually two Viking longboats somewhere in this headlight cluster. The peyote-trip continues as Mattin unveils the Volvo S60 Concept, saying that “it is packed with inspiration from Scandinavian design and from the Swedish coastline’s cliffs and seas“. Right.
The S60 Concept is set to debut at the Detroit Auto Show next month and is meant to preview the production 2010 Volvo S60. Check out the interesting design masked by dubious concept tricks below.
Posted by Peter on
December 14, 2008
Audi’s New Hole-Filler Spied!
Audi has gone a bit queer as of late. Not only are they enjoyed by more wankers than ever, but they’re intent on filling every hole in sight. Audi has decided that for every single customer, there must be an entire model devoted to that individual. With Audi’s goal of selling 1.5 million units worldwide, that makes for a lot of different models. Exaggerations aside, Audi is actually planning on having 40 different models by that time, which is less than 1.5 million, but still an astonishing number considering they have about half that number currently on sale. Apparently Martin Winterkorn thinks that there are “holes” in the product portfolio.
So let’s make up a fictitious customer with fictitious desires and see if the Audi-giant-knob-customer-model-selector will spit out something useless useful. This customer likes the look of the A6 but wishes it had a little less room, a little more sexiness, and cost a little more. Grrreat! Because Audi has got the product and it’s called the A7.
You can see a sneak peek of the A7 above, but there’s more below.
